Coimbra Chemistry Center

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Special bioactivities of phenolics from Acacia dealbata l. with potential for dementia, diabetes and antimicrobial treatments

Publication . Paula, Vanessa B.; Pedro, Soraia I.; Campos, Maria G.; Delgado, Teresa; Estevinho, Leticia M.; Anjos, Ofélia

Some diseases still need better therapeutic approaches, including the prevention of development. Natural resources are investigated with this purpose; among them, we decided to use an invasive plant as a main strategy. This will help in two ways: screening new compounds in flowers prevents the plant from causing widespread damage by controlling the dissemination and also obtains crude material for further applications. In the present study, flower extracts from Acacia dealbata Link harvested in Portugal were studied during three stages of flowering. Phenolic compounds were evaluated using HPLC/DAD and the total phenolics as the total flavonoids content was determined. The bioactivities screened were antioxidant potential, inhibitory activities of some enzymes (acetylcholinesterase, lipase and -glucosidase) and, to complete the screening, the inhibition of microbial growth was determined against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, as well as for yeasts. The data obtained suggested that the hydroethanolic extracts gave good results for all these biological activities and varied according to the maturation status of the flowers, with the early stage being the most active, which can be related to the chalcones content. This new approach will lead to the possible control of the invasive plant and also future perspective research for therapeutic purposes.

2022Journal article

Open access

Standard methods for pollen research

Publication . Campos, Maria G.; Anjos, Ofélia; Chica, Manuel; Campoy, Pascual; Nozkova, Janka; Almaraz-Abarca, Norma; Barreto, Lidia M.R.C.; Nordi, João Carlos; Estevinho, Leticia M.; Pascoal, Ananias; Paula, Vanessa B.; Choupina, Altino; Dias, L.G.; Tešić, Živoslav L. j.; Mosić, Mirjana D.; Kostić, Aleksandar Ž.; Pešić, Mirjana B.; Milojković-Opsenica, Dušanka M.; Sickel, Wiebke; Ankenbrand, Markus J.; Grimmer, Gudrun; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Keller, Alexander; Förster, Frank; Tananaki, Chrysoula H.; Liolios, Vasilios; Kanelis, Dimitrios; Rodopoulou, Maria-Anna; Thrasyvoulou, Andreas; Paulo, Luísa; Kast, Christina; Lucchetti, Matteo A.; Glauser, Gaëtan; Lokutova, Olena; Almeida-Muradian, Ligia Bicudo; Szczęsna, Teresa; Carreck, Norman L.

“Bee pollen” is pollen collected from flowers by honey bees. It is used by the bees to nourish themselves, mainly by providing royal jelly and brood food, but it is also used for human nutrition. For the latter purpose, it is collected at the hive entrance as pellets that the bees bring to the hive. Bee pollen has diverse bioactivities, and thus has been used as a health food, and even as medication in some countries. In this paper, we provide standard methods for carrying out research on bee pollen. First, we introduce a method for the production and storage of bee pollen which assures quality of the product. Routine methods are then provided for the identification of the pollen’s floral sources, and determination of the more important quality criteria such as water content and content of proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins, alkaloids, phenolic and polyphenolic compounds. Finally, methods are described for the determination of some important bioactivities of bee pollen such as its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antimutagenic properties. Métodos estándar Para la investigación del polen El "polen de abeja" es el polen recogido de las flores por las abejas melíferas. El polen de abeja es utilizado para nutrir a las propias abejas, principalmente para proporcionar jalea real y alimento para las crías, pero también se utiliza para la nutrición humana. Para este último fin, se recoge en la entrada de la colmena en forma de gránulos que las abejas llevan a la colmena. El polen de abeja tiene diversas bioactividades, por lo que se hautilizado como alimento para la salud, e incluso como medicamento en algunos países. En este artículo, proporcionamos métodos estándar para llevar a cabo investigaciones sobre el polen de abeja. En primer lugar, presentamos un método de producción y almacenamiento de polen de abeja que garantiza la calidad del producto. A continuación, se ofrecen métodos de rutina para la identificación de las fuentes florales del polen y la determinación de los criterios de calidad más importantes, como el contenido de agua y de proteínas, carbohidratos, ácidos grasos, vitaminas, alcaloides y compuestos fenólicos y polifenólicos. Por último, se describen métodos para la determinación de algunas bioactividades importantes del polen de abeja, como sus propiedades antioxidantes, antiinflamatorias, antimicrobianas y antimutagénicas.

2021Journal article

Open access